Return of the Shattered Constellation

『I can’t believe you actually got this far.』

Looking around, Thanatos quietly burst into laughter. The World's Navel, Omphalos… He was right where R’yleh slumbered! The <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> Star Signs had desperately wished to reach this place but ultimately failed in the end. It was also the place that Thanatos had asked Chang-Sun to guard. Now that Chang-Sun had actually reached it, Thanatos couldn’t help but laugh in amazement.

On top of that, Chang-Sun was at the Tower, the structure built in the form of a [Ruyi Jingu Bang] to serve as a path between Heaven and Earth and a prison for <Stars>.

Finally getting to see his friend after so long, Chang-Sun chuckled. “I don’t even have to guard this place. Anyone would have been arrested as soon as they barged in.”

『The stronger the guards are, the deeper the <Stars>’ greed for R’lyeh.』

Chang-Sun nodded in agreement. Things left unguarded were often undervalued or perceived as a trap. High security made people believe that whatever was being guarded was highly important, which the <Stars> in the Tower had fallen for. A double trap must be what Thanatos had been going for.

『Well, I doubt it’s necessary anymore.』

Thanatos grinned. Soon, his eyes narrowed.

『Anyhow, you’ve captured someone very interesting. Hahaha!』

Thanatos’ laughter loudly echoed as he stared at Richardus, who was constrained in the air. Chang-Sun could sense deep anger hidden in his laughter, which he thought was only natural.

Around the time Thanatos had thought that he had taken down <Purple Star Astrology>, the <Society>’s remnants began running wild again. Moreover, Richardus also had a history of disturbing the order of the <Underworld>, his home. Hence, Thanatos was understandably engulfed in fury.

『Defendant Richardus. Are you aware of your crimes?』

Richardus slowly looked up. Although half of his face had been gruesomely destroyed, he still coldly smiled. “If I’m guilty of something, it would be of weakness.”

『You’re right about that, alright. You are certainly weak. After all, that is why you have been captured,』 Thanatos scoffed, completely unaffected by Richardus’ taunt. 『However, that isn’t your only crime. Most people with power abide by rules for the order of their community instead of self-indulging like you do.』

After glancing at Chang-Sun, he looked at Richardus again.

『The judge will now pass out the sentence of Richardus the Defendant.』

Thanatos noticed emotions flashing in Richardus’ eyes.

『The defendant has a history of not only destroying numerous Worldlines but also contempting the court and breaking out of prison. Due to his heinous crimes, the judge sentences the defendant to dismemberment.』

Dismemberment was one of the ancient capital punishments. It would have a convict’s neck and limbs tied up with ropes and then pulled in five different directions until the convict had been killed[1].

Richardus had just been sentenced to annihilation. Considering Thanatos usually gave <Underworld> even the most nefarious criminals a life sentence, his punishment was quite severe.

『We have done a lot of preparations for this moment. You’ll find it hard to escape now.』

Thanatos wasn’t planning to immediately execute him. The Emperor’s Seat had to be treated first. Afterward, he would have to extract a lot of information from him about Sun Wukong. Nevertheless, he was determined not to let the execution be delayed any longer than necessary.

『Can I take him away now?』Thanatos asked Chang-Sun.

Swooosh!

The pulleys simultaneously turned, tightening the chains around Richardus.

“Wait. Let me ask him one question,” Chang-Sun requested. He then stepped forward. “Richardus.”

Richardus smiled crookedly. “Hahaha… What? Are you here to gloat about your victory?”

Chang-Sun was surprised. He was no longer affected by how twisted his old friend had become. Contrary to his expectations, he neither choked up nor felt refreshed when Richardus’ sentence was issued. Rather, he felt calm.

Observing Richardus, he easily deduced the reason.

‘He seems lesser than me.’

Now at a much higher league than Richardus, Chang-Sun saw the world differently from him. Just like how a person on top of a mountain couldn’t care less about what was going on at its foot, Chang-Sun couldn’t feel anything from Richardus’ actions.

The way Chang-Sun was looking at him made Richardus’ face crumple up. He was supposed to be the one standing above and looking down on everyone, not Chang-Sun!

“You know where my teacher is, don’t you?”

“The famous, cocky Twilight calling someone his teacher. What happened to your pride? Have you admitted that you’re less skilled than your teacher?” Richardus sarcastically asked, attempting to provoke Chang-Sun and suppress his rising inferiority complex.

Chang-Sun nodded. “So you do know. Where did he go?”

“What made you think I’d tell—!”

“He’s in <Nihil>.”

Richardus scoffed. “Ha! Do you really believe your guesses will get you anywhere?”

“To be precise, he’s in a layer of the dimension between the <Abyss> and the Imaginary Plane.”

“What nonsense are you sa—!”

“The coordinate is RS 193.76, LG 249.88.”

Richardus’ eyes widened. “Are you…”

Chang-Sun was reading him like an open book!

Richardus looked at Chang-Sun’s blazing [Gnostic Eye]. He momentarily wondered if Chang-Sun was using it to read his mind, but he knew that it was made to read hidden history, not thoughts.

‘No, it’s different from a [Gnostic Eye]…!’

Richardus’ jaw dropped, finally realizing that Chang-Sun’s [Gnostic Eye] was now a [Foretelling Eye]. He felt so wide awake that it was as if he had just been hit in the back of his head with a blunt weapon.

A [Foretelling Eye] had more abilities than a [Gnostic Eye]. On top of being able to read history and gnosis, it could also see the possibilities and outcomes of every interaction. Through mere observation alone, its wielder could even specify the unfixed results of quantum physics!

Richardus’ reactions would always give Chang-Sun the answers that he needed for as long as he asked the right series of questions. Hence, Chang-Sun simply had to use his [Foretelling Eye] to determine the quickest way to his desired intel and connect all the pieces of information that he got.

Unaware of that process, Richardus couldn’t help but feel like Chang-Sun was reading his mind. Nothing could be scarier than an opponent who could predict one’s every move and see every possible future.

At that moment, Richardus realized he could have never defeated Chang-Sun in the first place since he would just keep counterattacking. Perhaps that was also why he was helplessly hanging in the air right now.

His teeth began to chatter. For the first time in their entire rivalry, he felt terrified of Chang-Sun.

Chang-Sun smiled coldly. “Are you afraid that you failed to become the king you’ve been desperately wanting to become in the future that I see?”

Once again, Chang-Sun connected all the pieces of information about the future, allowing him to determine how psychologically affected Richardus was.

“You…!”

Chang-Sun added, “You’re scared that everyone will discover that you’re a fake.”

Shocked, Richardus was rendered speechless.

Thanatos’s eyes widened, shocked by how he almost let Richardus deceive him again. 『What? Fake? Am I on a wild goose chase again?』

Chang-Sun nodded. “It isn’t just him. Sun Wukong and all the trespassers outside the Tower are merely avatars. No, it would be more accurate to call them fakes who have been brought here from the closest Worldline.”

『Whoa! What about <Dull Darkness>? Does he know about this?』

“He does. He already knew right from the very beginning but chose to play along anyway.”

『That means…』

“Why don’t we head over there for now?”

Slash!

Chang-Sun slashed through the space with the [Yuchang Sword]. The spatial gap he created revealed <Nihil>, a world of emptiness that nobody had ever managed to see the ends of.

Mephistopheles was beyond this gap, hunted by Sun Wukong and Richardus, who were closely similar to the ones Chang-Sun was looking for.

“The Richardus we captured isn’t entirely fake. After all, he has information about our Richardus.”

『A Cloud Server… He’s probably a Terminal. Their Central Processing Unit must be stored somewhere else.』

Thanatos could finally understand how Richardus, Sun Wukong, and the others were operating. If they had a Terminal that could download and upload the Data named Richardus, then more Terminals should bring their Central Processing Unit closer to completion. The one they had in captivity also had to be another Richardus, which meant it would be easy to interrogate him.

『They’re up to very weird things. Wait, I did hear about an Anomaly like that…』 Thanatos trailed off, realizing that this wasn’t important right now. Looking up, he said, 『Get going. Sun Wukong and the others must be going after Mephistopheles to upgrade their Central Processing Units.』

Chang-Sun nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Richardus’ eyes lost focus, unable to pull himself together.

Swooosh!

As Richardus was locked up in the Bottomless Void, Chang-Sun prepared to go to <Nihil>.

[<Dull Darkness> has sent you a gift before your departure!]

‘A gift?’

Craaaaaack!

Paaah!

A pool of golden light spread all over the Tower’s inner walls. Soon after, its exterior also began to shine radiantly.

With an intense quake, the Tower, now void of prisoners, quickly shrank down and returned to its original form.

『That’s a [Ruyi Jingu Bang]…!』

When the Tower disappeared, a [Ruyi Jingu Bang] appeared in its place, hovering in front of Chang-Sun.

Chang-Sun clenched his fists.

[<Dull Darkness> tells you that he does not need it anymore so you can take it.]

[<Dull Darkness> adds that a <Supreme Light’s Face> ought to have the relic.]

Chang-Sun nodded. He then reached out for the [Ruyi Jingu Bang].

[You have obtained a ‘Ruyi Jingu Bang,’ a relic of <Supreme Light>!]

Badump…!

Badump, badump, badump!

Chang-Sun’s heart frantically raced. His [Ruyi Jingu Bang] shook profusely in response. He felt as if he had just recovered the lost part of himself.

[<Dull Darkness> says that it is time for his gift now.]

Chang-Sun’s eyes slightly widened. ‘Another gift?’

[<Dull Darkness> explains that it is preposterous for someone who is blessed by <Darkness> to only carry a relic of <Supreme Light>.]

[<Dull Darkness> has cut a part of his ring finger and sent it to you!]

[You have acquired a ‘Darkness Jade,’ a power extract of <Dull Darkness>!]

A dark bead descended from the sky and landed beside where the [Ruyi Jingu Bang] had been,

The [Darkness Jade] possessed so much power that Chang-Sun’s <Darkness> responded to its presence the moment he saw it, requiring him to suppress his <Darkness>.

Chang-Sun bowed in the direction where he could sense <Dull Darkness>. “Thank you.”

He then picked up the [Darkness Jade].

With the relics of two Emperors, Chang-Sun leaped into the spatial gap.

At the same time, a message popped up behind him.

[<Dull Darkness> is rooting for you!]

1. Dismemberment differs in each country. This kind of method is mostly used in Korea and China. ☜